The More They Stay The Same
by Kikideas
Summary: A little story that delves into some of our supporting players and some original characters to see how they effect others.
1. Chapter 1

This is a story that came to me because I wanted to explore some other characters that the show doesn't focus on all that much. The supporting cast is fantastic on this show and they should use them. Most of the main characters will be present and some, more than others, have pretty big roles but yeah.. Hope I don't bore you all to death! This is my first time writing Nashville fic. Please let me know what you think :) And thanks in advance for reading!

Sadly, most of the character do not belong to me... :(

**Chapter 1**

They say the more things change the more they stay the same. Things had definitely changed but for some reason so many things were so very similar to the way they were twenty some odd years ago. The south was still the south, church goers still attended service on Sundays and Nashville was still controlled by the elite few who had the money to pay to have things their way.

The chords coming from her piano were supposed to sound happier than they were at that very moment. All she could think about was the fact that her life was nowhere near where she had seen herself thirty years ago. Yes, she was a successful singer like she had wanted. Yes, she was a mother, something she had also always dreamed of. But she was alone. The man that she had loved for most of those thirty years was still the first one that came to mind when the word love floated past her. But she couldn't go back there. She had ended what they had, more than once, and she had to stick to her guns. Easier said than done.

A short fling with her producer Liam McGuinnis was just that. A short fling. They both knew that it meant nothing more than two people working out their sexual tension with the possibility of becoming friends with benefits. The term made Rayna scrunch up her nose. Sex was supposed to be about more than just the physical aspect of it, although thinking back, she had been having sex for just the physical purpose for the last few years when she and Teddy had sex at all, which wasn't very often.

Then there was Luke. He was sweet and caring and stable. He was her equal when it came to their careers so there was never that guilty feeling that she was taking the limelight. People wanted to see both of them. His reluctance to support her with the buyout of her contract was worrying some but that was business. He was someone she could see herself having an actual relationship with but Rayna felt like history was starting to repeat itself. This was the second time she will have chosen stability over what her heart is telling her.

The last few months had been pretty crazy for her. Being with Deacon again, if only for those few all too short weeks, was amazing. He was the man that she always wanted him to be. But then he reacted exactly the way she feared all these years when he found out that she had kept Maddie's paternity from him. That lead to the accident that almost took her life and also ended her relationship with Deacon because she felt like being with him was choosing him over the safety and assurance of a life with her daughters.

Then everything changed the night of the festival. First Luke had sort of brushed her off when she told him about the buyout then she watched as Deacon took center stage for the first time in years. Their daughter was in complete awe of her father and Rayna couldn't say she didn't feel the same way. Seeing him up there, on stage brought her back. She felt like a teenager again. She thought back to seeing him perform countless times without her and it never felt like this before. This was something new. He was trying something new but still something old. Old in the sense that it should have been done years ago but new because it hadn't been followed through then. She always told him to go out on his own while secretly hoping that he wouldn't. Now she knew what he went through and she was finding a hard time dealing with it.

She was also having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that for the second time in less than six months she could have lost her life that night. Everything happened so fast that she couldn't even remember what she had told the police officers after the shooting. She was also very conflicted about how involved she should get with the situation. Obviously she would be there to help Teddy and the girls grieve but she couldn't say that she liked Peggy when she didn't. She would never wish her dead but the women did sleep with her husband and put Maddie through so much that could have been avoided. Her death also made Rayna look at the decision she made regarding Deacon. She chose to let him go because she was afraid of dying when there's never a promise that you'll see the next day even when you only walk on the safe side.

She shook her head as if to clear the thoughts and again tried to lose herself in the music as she began to fiddle with the keys in front of her and wait for the right lyrics to appear. It wasn't working. Luckily for her, the moment she pressed her fingers down to play a minor chord, the doorbell rang. Not expecting anyone that wouldn't have just let themselves into her house, Rayna was caught slightly off guard. She jumped up from her bench to pad bare footed through the house to the front door.

When she opened the door she couldn't help but do a double take. The small woman in front of her was just over five feet tall but had an air about her that was so much bigger. Long, chestnut curls surrounded a beautiful face and the most unique hazel eyes you'd ever see. The smile that graced her face could warm Rayna's heart on the coldest of days and one that she hadn't seen in person in a number of years.

"My god," she gasped before her hand flew up to cover her mouth as her eyes began to well with tears. "Della?" she asked softly through her hand. When the young woman nodded her head, Rayna threw her arms around her and held on tight.

"Aunt Ray… Aunt Ray!" she struggled to get out and then started laughing as much as she could while being slightly suffocated by her aunt's hug. "Ray, I can't breathe!"

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, honey," Rayna jumped back from her but kept her hands planted firmly on the younger woman's shoulders. She moved her right hand to place it on Della's left cheek and simply took in the little girl that wasn't a little girl anymore. "What are you doing here?" Rayna finally asked.

"I'm coming home," was all Della said in response. She looked to Rayna who was drying her tears and just smiled. She had missed her aunt so much.

"Well, come in, come in!" Rayna ushered her further into the house and motioned for her to sit down at the kitchen island on one of the stools. When Della took a seat she watched her aunt flutter around the kitchen putting a tea kettle on the stove and grabbing two mugs out of the cabinet. She smiled to herself when she realized that Rayna must have remembered that she would always choose tea over coffee any day. Granted, she was only ten years old the last time she was offered tea or coffee by her aunt, but she remembered.

Rayna finally turned her attention back to her niece who was sitting in her kitchen. She couldn't believe it. Della had been a little girl that last time she saw her and the thought of all the years they missed together made her feel sad. Trying to forget the sadness and focus on the fact that she was right here, Rayna watched the young woman as she looked around the house. It wasn't much different from the style of house she grew up in while she lived in Nashville but she had no idea what type of house Della had done the rest of her growing up in. The tea kettle whistled pulling them both out of their daydreams and Rayna went about pouring them each a cup then sitting down beside her niece.

"This is a nice house," Della started and then stopped herself when she heard her aunt start to laugh. "What?"

"You've never been a very good liar. I know, it's not something you would have pictured me in but things happened. Times change," Rayna said with a sigh. She looked down at her mug as she wrapped her hands around it. She hoped that her niece wouldn't catch the melancholy tone of her voice but when she looked up, she knew she had been caught.

"I know. Mama keeps me informed as much as she can. Speaking of Mama, where is she? I thought that she would be here with you."

"Oh honey, I completely forgot. Your mother is actually out of town. She went to some spa up in Napa," she answered as she watched the young woman's face drop. "You know what, I'll call her and tell her that she has to come back early. She's going to be so excited that you're here and that you're coming home!"

"No, don't do that. Let her enjoy her time away. I'll see her when she gets back," was the soft reply that came from Della. When she looked at Rayna, she could see the hurt in her eyes that was more than likely a reflection of the pain in her own. She was glad when she chose not to press the subject.

"Well, why don't you stay here until she gets back? She's been staying here the last few months anyway. Or I could give you the key to her house if you don't feel like have three roommates for the time being. It's up to you, babe," she offered watching Della run the options over in her head.

Finally, Della decided that she would take Rayna up on her offer and stay with her and the girls until her mother got back from wherever it was she had gone. Rayna was a bit nervous to ask her niece about why she was suddenly moving back to Nashville. When Tandy and Charles Hampton had divorced, Della had been only ten years old and her father took her to live with him when he moved back to Boston. Tandy fought tooth and nail to try and get custody but her ex-husband knew some very powerful people in high places. Their father couldn't even get the judge to overturn the ruling which was a rare occurrence that Lamar Wyatt didn't have enough clout to get his way. To make things worse, Charles forbade Della from seeing her mother. He went as far as to tell the little girl that her mother didn't want her anymore. Tandy was a mess for months. They nearly had to threaten a hospital stay in order to get her to start eating on a regular basis. That was almost fifteen years ago.

Up until a few months ago, Rayna never mentioned her niece's name to her sister. As far as she knew, the mother and daughter didn't speak. She knew that Tandy kept a box in a hidden part of her closet that held hundreds of letters she had written to her daughter over the years. There were birthday cards, holiday cards and postcards from all over the world that were stamped 'Return to Sender' tucked away in that box. Rayna also knew that Tandy kept a journal for Della to read some day if she was ever given the chance to give it to her.

A few months ago, Rayna had received a frantic phone call from her sister saying that she had to meet her right away. Rayna drove to Tandy's house and found her in tears, clinging to an old photo her and Della. Her sister told her that Della had finally contacted her and she was flying out to Boston to see her. It was sudden but Rayna didn't question it. When Tandy returned she told her that Della had found a letter that Tandy had sent earlier that month that the house staff hadn't had a chance to hide, per their boss's request. Since then, mother and daughter had been trying to reclaim the bond that they once had. Of course, Della's father had no idea, so they kept it quiet which more of a reason for Rayna to be curious about her sudden arrival.

The two women moved to the sitting area and continued talking for the rest of the morning, filling each other in on what had been going on in their lives. Della told her aunt that she had been keeping track of her career and also, sadly, her personal life that had been plastered everywhere as of late. Her mother had also filled her in a bit in the last few months that they had been talking. She knew about her marriage and subsequent divorce, that she had two daughters that she couldn't wait to meet and that she had just bought herself out of her Edgehill contract to start up her own label. In return, Rayna was informed that Della had recently graduated from Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island with her degree in pastry arts and hoped to get a job at one of the bakeries downtown once she was settled.

"I still can't believe that you're here," Rayna said as she reached out to take her hand. After a moment, she noticed the ring that was on Della's left hand. It was a large sapphire with two small diamonds on either side in a gold, antique setting. It took a moment for her to realize why she recognized the ring. "Where did you get this?"

"Mama gave it to me when I was little. She told me that it was your mother's. I just started wearing it a few years ago. It makes me feel like I have a part of her with me. I wish I would have been able to know her," Della spoke softly as she admired the ring. It was one thing that she wouldn't let her father take away from her when she was a child. He had removed almost every remembrance of her mother from her life but this and only because he didn't know about it. When she started wearing it, it was easy to pass it off as a ring she bought at some vintage shop knowing full well that her father never paid that much attention to the jewelry her mother had.

"I wish you would have as well. Hell, I wish that I knew her better."

With that they both sat in silence for a few moments. When Della was younger, she could see so much of herself in the young girl and Tandy would say that she got that from their mother. She surprised everyone when she proved to carry the musical gene that seemed to skip a generation where her mother was concerned. She picked up the guitar at the age of four and begged Rayna to teach her the few chords that she could play. Later, Della would talk Deacon into giving her guitar lessons when he was sober enough. She wasn't allowed around Deacon when he wasn't sober.

Della also took after her aunt when she turned to the piano, teaching herself when she was old enough for her feet to touch the pedals. Rayna was more of a help on the piano than the guitar, so she helped her young niece with finding the right placements for her fingers and how to read and write music. She wasn't sure if she had kept up with her instruments over the years but could only hope.

When the front door opened, they both turned towards the sound of two little girls chattering away with Bucky who had offered to pick the girls up from school on his way over. Daphne ran into the living room to greet her mother by throwing her arms around her while Bucky and Maddie stayed back just a bit, Bucky looking at the young woman that Rayna was with. He immediately recognized her from the photos that Tandy had shown him and was surprised to see her here, in Nashville.

"Hello sweet girl," Rayna said to Daphne as she wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter. She looked up and caught Maddie's eyes and looked to Della. "Girls, there's someone I want you to meet. This is Della. She's your cousin. Della, this is Daphne," she said as she placed a hand on the little girl's head and then motioned towards Maddie. "And this is Maddie."

"Cousin?" Maddie asked. "I didn't know that we had any cousins on your side of the family. That doesn't make any sense." She was trying to figure out in her mind what was going on and all she could think of was that her mother had kept something from her again. Or could she be a cousin on Deacon's side of the family? Before she got too upset, she decided that she would wait to hear what her mother had to say first.

"It's okay, Maddie," Della said, breaking the silence. "Actually, my mother is your Aunt Tandy. It's probably really strange that I haven't ever met you all before but certain things kept us all apart. I've decided to come home; I just hope it's not too late to get to know you and your sister. My mother has told me so much about you both."

Everyone stayed silent for a moment while Maddie let it sink in. It was so weird that she had another family member that she didn't know about. The more she thought about it though, the more she grew to kind of like the idea. Even though she hadn't had a lot of time to spend with Scarlett, she really liked the idea that she had someone else who was a little bit older than her that she could ask advice from that wasn't her mother or her aunt. There were still things that confused her about why she never knew her but Maddie finally came to the conclusion that she would like to get to know Della. She looked to her sister, who was already making her way over to Della and felt that if Daphne was okay with it than she would be as well.

"Okay," she said.

"Yeah? Okay!" Della replied with a big smile on her face.

"I'm going to go get ready for my guitar lesson," Maddie told her mother as she made her way upstairs. After a look from her mother, Daphne followed her sister.

When the girls were gone Della turned to Bucky with a smile on her face. It had been so long since she had seen this man and she felt tears welling in her eyes. Bucky had been her friend when she was little. When her mother was busy trying to help her aunt with something or getting Deacon out of some kind of trouble he had gotten himself into, Bucky was there with her.

"It's good to have you back, kiddo," Bucky said as he moved forward to take the young woman into his arms.

Rayna watched closely as the pair in front of her silently held each other. She had always known that they were close but now watching them, she felt like there was something deeper there. It made her smile when she thought about it and then she heard Della say, "It's good to be back."

It was good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next few days flew by so fast. Between Rayna and Luke's single topping the charts, writing a song with Deacon and going public with her relationship with Luke, things were non-stop. The girls had thankfully accepted Luke as their mother's boyfriend, although Maddie was a little more reluctant. Rayna could see just a hint of disappointment in her eyes when she told them. Daphne of course had been won over by his sweet gestures and horses, but Maddie not so much. She wasn't rude, just not as outgoing as she knew Maddie could be.

Della had also been very nice to Luke even with him asking her question after question about anything and everything under the sun. What was Rayna like when she was a kid? What part of Boston did she live in? Where did she go to school? Rayna would have gotten more annoyed than Della let on.

Rayna was so happy that the girls had really taken a liking to Della. They asked her most of the same questions as Luke but Della was more than happy to share the details of her life with her little cousins. They soaked everything in from stories about touring with their mother when she was little to her boarding schools and everything in between. Rayna noticed that Della spoke around the fact that she had spent so much time away from their family. When the girls asked her about it, she simply said that it didn't matter because she was there now. It clearly did matter but Rayna knew better than to push her on her feelings on a subject she didn't want to talk about right then and was also not appropriate for her young daughters. Rayna knew the reasons better than anyone and didn't want the girls to know until they were older, if at all.

Tandy was still out of town and Rayna was sure not to let her know that Della was there any time she spoke with her on the phone. She would be home the following day and she couldn't wait to see the look on her sister's face when she finds out that her daughter was finally home. Rayna was also curious to see her sister's reaction to their father coming home tomorrow. They had always been so close until he was arrested. Then Tandy couldn't seem to separate herself far enough away from him.

Her wandering mind was interrupted by the sound of her piano. It was a beautiful song that she didn't recognize. The chords were deep and flowing and Rayna was taken aback by the striking tone of the voice coming from the other room. Before the singing began, she had known that it couldn't possibly be the girls because they didn't know how to play the piano but she was still shocked by the beautiful voice that came from her niece. She made her way to her music room and listened at the doorway.

_It was only just a feeling_

_That we thought would fade away_

_It's the kind that sends you spinning_

_When you're waiting on a plane_

_It takes over the garden_

_It takes over the house_

_And before you even know it_

_It's become what you're about_

_I could watch you in the evening_

_I could watch you in the dark_

_Just the thought of your surrender_

_Makes a whisper so strong_

_It takes over my body_

_It takes over my brain_

_And before I even know it_

_I'm crying on a plane_

_I'm crying on a plane_

_How could I ever explain?_

_Why I would ever lose control_

_Why I would ever let you go_

_It was only just a feeling_

_That we thought would fade away_

_It's the kind that sends you spinning_

_When you're waiting on a plane_

Rayna watched as she played this incredibly beautiful and obviously personal song. Della's emotions were written all over her face and spilled out through the song. It was the way any songwriter should be when they're telling their story. Whether it's a song that's written about a personal experience or simply telling a story of someone else, if there's no feeling or emotion there, the song isn't worth a damn.

"That's a pretty song," Rayna said, deciding to make her presence known. She watched as Della's head whipped up to look at her then look back down at the keys as if she had been caught doing something that she shouldn't have. "Is that how you ended up here?"

When her niece didn't answer right away, Rayna knew she had hit the nail on the head. So she had come here to get away from a boy. Or man, rather. She still had to remind herself that Della was a grown woman now and not a little girl. She obviously had a relationship that had gone bad and it was coming out so clearly in her song.

She made her way over to the piano bench and sat down next to her niece. Della's face was still turned down towards the keys and Rayna bumped her shoulder slightly just to get her to look up. When she did she let out a sigh.

"Sort of," she started, and then stopped quickly. "I mean, there were a lot of reasons that I wanted to come home. Yeah, I guess some things were bigger reasons than others."

"It's okay. If you need to talk to anyone about it, I'm always here for you," Rayna assured her. When Della nodded her head, Rayna continued. "I mean, clearly, I'm not very good at relationships. But I've had a couple that I can maybe help you out." At least she got a smile out of the young woman.

"Maybe later."

"Okay… Hey! I didn't know that you were still doing music. You're amazing, by the way," Rayna said as she gushed about how incredible her songwriting was if only on the one song.

"I kept up with it. Father kept trying to make me give it up but I couldn't. I love music so much I couldn't imagine my life without it," Della spoke freely. "I guess it's the same for everyone that loves music. I would go crazy if I couldn't write or play or sing."

"I know exactly what you mean. Your grandfather kicked me out of the house when I was sixteen because I wouldn't give up my music!"

"And look where you are now," she pointed out.

That made Rayna think again about where, exactly, she was now. It could be worse. She has her label, her new album coming out and a boyfriend that cared about her a great deal. Maybe a little more than she cared for him but she was hoping that with time she might get there.

Della saw the look on her face and decided to take this as her out. She didn't really feel like talking about her inspiration for the song right now.

"I'm going to head into town. Maybe do a little shopping, mosey around. I'll see you later," she said as she kissed Rayna on the cheek and jumped up to leave before Rayna had a chance to protest. She made it as far as the front door before she ran into a large, hard body.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there," the man said as he placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked at her closely and it took a minute for him to realize who she was. "Della?"

"Hi, Deacon," she replied very softly.

"Oh my goodness! Darlin', I'm sorry. Come 'ere," he said before wrapping his arms around her. Deacon noticed that she seemed to hesitate a bit so he let her go. "What are you doing here? It's been what? Thirteen years? Longer?"

"About that," Della said, not looking up at him. "I'm moving home. And I have to go. It was nice to see you. Bye Aunt Ray!" she called out to her aunt who had just come down the hall into the kitchen. She was out the door before either could say anything.

"Wow!" Deacon said as he looked to the door that she had just walked out of. "She's all grown up. And she's so beautiful. Tandy is going to have her hands full."

"That's what you always told her," Rayna said as she leaned against the counter.

She motioned for him to come further into the house. Deacon followed her and took a seat at the island. A comfortable silence filled the air and both tried their hardest not to look at the other. When they finally met each other's stare, Rayna smiled and made a face as if asking him what was going on.

"She flew out of here kinda fast. Maybe it was just me," Deacon said offhandedly.

"I don't think so. I just asked her about a song and I think she was a bit upset about it," Rayna clarified.

"A song? She's writin' songs?" he asked. When Rayna nodded her head, he continued, "I always said she took more after you than her mama."

"Oh, she takes after Tandy plenty, don't you worry."

"I'll take your word on that," Deacon replied with a soft laugh. "God, I remember when she was a baby. She had everyone wrapped around her little fingers, especially her mama."

"Yeah… She was one of the only good things about Tandy's life at that time," Rayna trailed off.

Deacon didn't really know much about Tandy's marriage other than the fact that she didn't mind not spending time with her husband. When he and Rayna had met, Tandy was single and went out with them sometimes. He had fun with her and he could see why Rayna loved her sister so much even if they were as different as night and day. Then she was suddenly married and shortly thereafter, pregnant with Della. He could tell that she wasn't happy in her marriage but there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for that little girl.

Deacon could tell that Rayna didn't really want to talk further on the topic so he decided to get to the point of why he was there. When he was thinking of recording a duet album, one person that his label wanted him to record with more than anyone was Rayna. Of course. He hadn't asked her, thankfully, because he knew she would have said yes and working together again so soon was probably not the best idea. He was happy about the idea that he came up with.

"Anyway, I came over to let you know that I'm doing a recording at the Bluebird tomorrow night and wanted to know if you wanted to bring Maddie."

"You know what, I can't. Daddy is getting released tomorrow and the girls wanted to have dinner with him. And Tandy is coming home tomorrow. I know she'll want to spend time with the girls and Della and Daddy. I'm really sorry, Deacon," she explained. It would be really nice for Maddie to go and listen to her father play but the girls were really excited to see their grandfather.

"Nah, it's okay. Some other time."

With that, Deacon stood up and began to walk towards the door before Rayna stopped him. She thanked him for inviting Maddie and told him that she would bring her the next time he played. She watched him walk out the door and felt that all too familiar heaviness in her heart. It was always there when she saw Deacon. Or thought about him. Or listened to a song that sparked a memory of him.

"Ugh!" she cried and threw her hands up in the air in defeat.

* * *

The next day was a bundle of activity. Rayna was filming her music video for 'This Time' and had a pleasant surprise when her sister showed up.

"Hi!" Rayna said enthusiastically as she threw her arms around her sister. "I didn't know you were coming back this early. I have missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too, babe," Tandy told her sister as they walked through the set with their arms still wrapped around each other. "Hey, there's something that I need to talk to you about later. What time are you going to be home?"

"Well, Daddy is being released today so we're going to go over there for dinner. The girls want to throw him a welcome home party. You'll be there, right?" she asked.

"I don't know. I don't think I can. I have so much to do with the label and meetings," Tandy said, trying to come up with any excuse to get out of seeing her father. "I'll try. But I do need to talk to you."

"No. Tandy, I don't know what happened between you two but you have to just let it go. At least for tonight. We need to be a family. Please?" Rayna pleaded with her sister.

"Rayna, there's so much that needs to be done. I'll try. That's the best I can give you right now."

"Okay," Rayna said somewhat reluctantly. "There's something that I have to talk to you about as well. I'll be home in a little bit."

Rayna kissed her sister on the cheek and then was off to shoot the next scene for her video. Tandy watched her younger sister walk away. What she had to tell her was going to break her heart and change the way that she looked at a lot of things in life, including their relationship. But Tandy had made up her mind; she had to be completely honest with her sister. The lies had been eating away at her for months and it was time that they were all out in the open.

Tandy made her way back to her own house and it felt so empty. She had been staying with Rayna for the last few months but knew that when she told her sister the truth, she was more than likely going to need to give her some space. She didn't want to do that, she wanted to keep her sister as close to her as possible feeling like she was one of the only things in her life that really mattered at the moment, but would ultimately go along with whatever Rayna wanted.

The moment she stepped into her house, Tandy felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and told herself that she wasn't going to fall apart. At least not yet. She also had to think of a way to get out of going to their father's. She'd just have to make something up. She couldn't stand to be in the same room as him let alone celebrate the fact that she was too scared to testify and keep him in jail where he belonged.

She was so overwhelmed with emotions that even deep breaths and pep talks weren't working. The tears started to fall and Tandy wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and block out the rest of the world. There was one person, though, that she wanted with her at that moment so she reached for her phone and called him. Within fifteen minutes, Bucky was on her front step waiting to be let in.

"I'm so glad to see you," Tandy said as she wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face in his neck the moment he walked through the door.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as his hands ran up and down her back in a soothing manner. He could feel her body tremble slightly and it worried him. "Tandy…"

"I'm fine, I'm just really happy to see you," she mumbled against his neck, still not letting him go.

Bucky waited for a moment and then began to loosen his hold on her. He kissed her head and pulled back to look at her. There was something troubling he saw pass over her face and just as quickly as he saw it, it was gone. When his hand came up to cup her cheek, Bucky noticed that her skin was a bit clammy, as if she had been crying. By now he knew Tandy well enough to know that she didn't cry easily but also if there was something bothering her that she wanted you to know, she would tell you, so he chose not to push her.

"Okay," he said, reluctantly letting her off the hook for now. "I'm really happy to see you, too."

He really was happy to see her. The past few days he had been a little worried about her. It wasn't like Tandy to just take off without telling anyone, especially him or Rayna. The day after the festival Rayna had called him to ask where she was and he didn't have a clue. He thought that she was with Rayna. It had completely surprised him when Rayna told him that Tandy had gone to a spa because for one thing, they had a lot of business to take care of with the label and for another, he didn't think that she liked places like that.

"So, what have I missed while I was gone?" Tandy asked him.

So Bucky spent the next half hour giving Tandy the run-down of goings on as they moved into her living room. They were sitting next to each other on the smaller of two couches with Tandy pressed up against his side, head on his shoulder. He thought about it again. He was really happy that she was home. He had missed her more than he thought he would.

"You seem quiet," Bucky said as he turned his head to press his lips against her forehead. He felt her shrug and looked down at their intertwined hands. She had such small hands.

"My sister wants me to go welcome Daddy home with her and the girls tonight."

"And you don't want to?" he enquired. There had been a distance between Tandy and her father before his arrest but since then, she would change the subject any time someone would bring it up. Granted, the topic wasn't high on the list of things for people to talk about, but she would still avoid it at all cost.

"I just don't know how I feel about everything right now. I feel like he should be punished for the things that he's done but then…" she trailed off.

"What should he be punished for? Tandy, everything that's gone on in that company for the last fifteen years is tied to you as well. Now, I don't know anything about your father's company other than what you told me, but I have a feeling that if something can put him in jail then someone can make a case that you knew about it, too," Bucky said cautiously. When she was silent for a moment, he took the chance to pull back a bit to look at her. "Tand?"

"I don't want to talk about my father anymore," she said and stood up. She turned to him to take his hand and pulled him onto his feet. "There are other things that I would like to be doing."

Tandy moved a little bit closer to Bucky and placed her hand on his cheek before kissing him. When she pulled back, they both smiled and she began to lead him upstairs.

* * *

Della walked along 5th Ave in downtown Nashville and just took it all in. This was her hometown and it just felt right to be back here after so many years. She stopped and stood in front of the Ryman Auditorium. The mother church of country music. The first time she could remember her aunt taking her on stage there was when she was just six years old. Sure, she has pictures of them together on stage when she was really young but this was the first time Della could remember it.

It was the night Rayna was inducted into the Opry. It was 1995 and none other than Garth Brooks, the hottest act in country music, was inducting Rayna and giving her the honor of becoming the newest member of the Opry family. Her mother had been told ahead of time in order to ensure that she would be there for Rayna at such an important moment in her career and they were standing just backstage watching from the sidelines. Della got so excited when Garth Brooks handed her aunt that coveted trophy that she ran out on stage and hugged her. Her mother had then followed her and wrapped her arms around them both. It was the perfect moment and one that they would never forget.

Deacon had been on stage with her that night, like every other night, and she remembers him coming up behind them and kissing Rayna on the cheek. It was such a sweet gesture. Everyone knew that they were together but they always tried to keep things low-key so the small kiss was as much as the crowd got. Thinking about Deacon brought up some old memories, some good and some not so good. She was just hoping that after so many years there would be more good times than bad that they would all have in the future.

* * *

As always... I don't own them. Thanks for reading. Hope people are enjoying this... If not, I'm sorry to bore you. The song I used in this chapter is called 'Crying on a Plane' by Sarah Siskind. If you haven't heard it, you should. It's amazing. And Sarah is incredible both in her singing and her songwriting. I believe she's actually written a few songs they've used on the show already. Anyway... I would love to know what people think! Thanks again :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When it became obvious that the day was still moving forward and trying to hide from her problems was not working, Tandy pulled herself from her bed and began to redress. She walked into her en suite bathroom to freshen up a bit and was surprised to see Bucky dressed and ready to go when she came back out. He gave her a small smile and a soft kiss before taking her hand to walk with her back downstairs.

"Hey, did you go to Rayna's yet?" he asked, assuming that Tandy still didn't know that Della was home.

"No, I'm on my way there now. She said she had something to talk to me about. I have something that I really need to discuss with her as well, I'm just not sure how she's going to take it," Tandy admitted.

"Everything ok?"

"I'll let you know once I talk to her," she answered and they both walked out the front door to their cars. Bucky gave her a kiss before closing her door for her and then making his way to his own vehicle. He hoped that seeing her daughter would pull Tandy out of whatever funk she was in right now.

When she finally made it to Rayna's house, there was an extra car there that she didn't recognize. She knew that Luke drove a big pick-up truck so the Volkswagen Touareg seemed out of place. Once she parked and let herself into the house she started looking for her sister. Music was playing from down the hall so Tandy followed the beautiful sounds into the music room. Her breath caught when she witnessed the scene before her. Her two young nieces were sitting in chairs, Maddie with her guitar and Daphne swinging her feet that didn't quite touch the floor, Rayna sat at the piano playing along and there was one more person that caught her by complete surprise. Perched on the coffee table in front of the girls, banjo in her hands, sat her daughter that she hadn't seen in well over a month. Everyone stopped playing when they heard Tandy gasp from the door.

"Hi Mama," Della said as she stood up and placed the banjo on its stand. She watched her mother's eyes fill with tears as her hand covered her mouth as she made her way closer. Della knew it was a big deal that she was back in Nashville, where she belonged, and knew that her mother felt the same way.

"My baby girl," Tandy whispered into Della's hair as she wrapped her arms around her daughter and held onto her tightly. "I have missed you so much."

Rayna stood up from the piano and paused a moment to watch her sister and niece embrace before making her way over to them. Both mother and daughter started to laugh when they pulled back to see tears streaming down each other's faces. They knew they were happy tears.

"I've missed you, too, Mama," she replied before taking her hand to wipe away at the tears on her mother's face.

"What are you doing here?" Tandy asked and then turned to Rayna to ask, "Is this what you had to talk to me about?"

Rayna nodded her head and took a step forward to wrap her arms around both her sister and her niece. It was so nice to have them back together again. Not wanting to be left out, Maddie and Daphne stood up and made their way over to the trio to give their aunt a hug. Once they did, Rayna took the girls into the kitchen to get them a snack but also to give her sister time to speak with her niece without little ears listening.

"Yeah, Aunt Ray has been hiding me for a few days," the younger woman replied once they settled back on one of the sofas.

"A few days? You've been here a few days and you're just now telling me? Honey, I would have come right home if I knew you were here," Tandy said, trying to make it sound as believable as she could. She couldn't have come home even if she knew Della was home and she wouldn't have because she would have been putting her in danger.

"I wanted you to enjoy your time away. And anyway, it's not like I'm going anywhere."

"What do you mean? Don't you have to get back to Boston?" her mother asked. When Tandy saw her daughter hesitate before answering, she asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Della answered a little too quickly. "Really, nothing is wrong. I just thought that it was time for me to come home. I miss you, I miss Aunt Ray, and I miss this place. I want to be with my family again."

Tandy watched Della for a moment and could tell that there was something she wasn't telling her. She knew that Della had been dating someone the last time they spoke and could only imagine that that played a big part in why she was here. She could also tell that her daughter didn't want to talk about it so decided to question her later.

"What does your father have to say about this?" she asked hesitantly. Not that she really cared what her ex-husband thought; she didn't want her daughter to come down on the wrong side of him. She had done that too many times and paid the price.

"Do you really care what Father thinks about it?" When her mother answered by simply giving her a look, she continued, "Either way, I'm an adult. He can't rule my life anymore."

"Okay," her mother said, giving up for the moment. She knew she had to get answers out of her daughter somehow but she would have to wait. "So, what did you do with your apartment?"

Della and Tandy continued talking for some time while waiting for Rayna and the girls to rejoin them. Della told her mother that she had packed up her belongings and put most of them in storage before leasing out the apartment that her father had bought her in the South End. He had no idea that she was no longer living there and she had no intentions of telling him any time soon.

They were pulled from their conversation when Rayna and the girls came back into the room. Rayna walked over to set down two cups of tea for her sister and niece before sitting back down at the piano. They had been practicing a song called 'The Blues Have Blown Away' to sing for their grandfather and wanted to get it just right. Tandy watched as the four of them played and sang so beautifully together. This was the way it should have always been.

* * *

Deacon paced back and forth in front of the stage at The Bluebird. He'd played this stage thousands of times but tonight he felt was going to be special. He knew that Avery would make the recording sound just like you were sitting in the audience but he felt like something was missing. When he had asked Rayna to come and bring Maddie with her, he really hoped that she would say yes. It just didn't feel right not having Rayna there.

He kept going over the conversation in his head again and again to see if he was reading a little more into it than was really there. There was something in her voice that told him that she wanted to be there not only for Maddie, but for her as well. He knew that she was with Luke now but writing with her last week had brought back so many memories. The writing session for 'I Shouldn't Love You' came to mind rather quickly and he shook his head to clear the images of Rayna sprawled across his bed.

Getting back to the playlist, Deacon looked at the first song listed. 'Keep Coming Back'. He had written that song for Rayna last year but never had the chance to play it for her before everything went to Hell. He played it for Megan the other night and hadn't corrected her when she said that it was a beautiful song he had written for her. Thinking about Megan now made him think about Teddy Conrad and that was no place for his mind to be before a show. He had called Megan earlier to ask if she was still coming but if he was really honest with himself, he only wanted one woman in the audience tonight and she wouldn't be there.

"Hey Avery!" Deacon called to the younger man who was fussing around with some sound equipment.

"Yeah, man. What's up?" he asked.

"We're going to cut the first song from the set. I'm just not feeling it tonight."

"You sure? That's a great song. Helps when you have such a long relationship for an inspiration for a song like that," Avery said.

"What makes you say that?" Deacon asked. He wanted to know why someone like Avery would see right through him and someone with whom he was in a relationship couldn't see it. Some people just see what they want to see, he guessed. Avery just gave him a look and continued to mess around with the equipment. "Whatever man. I'll play it but it's your fault if it sounds like crap."

"I've never heard you sing a song that sounds like crap because you put your heart and soul in every note. I know who you're singing about. And she knows, too. Just remember that," Avery said before walking away.

He was right. Rayna had always known that the songs were about her and he never hid that fact. Or at least he never had someone else think that the song was about them. Maybe that was the reason he never tried to have a serious relationship with anyone else before. No one would ever compare to Rayna for him. He would never know someone who inspired every cell in his body to write a song or just show her how much he loved her. He should have loved her better.

The ringing of the bell signaled that someone new had walked into the cafe but Deacon was too distracted to notice. It wasn't until someone walked right up to him that he even looked up from his setlist. It was Megan. She told him that she quit her case because she loved him. He wasn't really sure what to do with that right now.

* * *

Rayna walked around her father's house placing flower arrangements in random places and watching her daughters as the hung up decorations. Her niece was helping the girls and she loved seeing the three of them laughing and goofing around with each other. Even though Della was eleven years older than Maddie, Rayna could tell that the young woman enjoyed spending time with her girls.

She turned when she heard someone walk in the back door. Tandy had gone outside to take a call and just came back in looking slightly flustered. Rayna watched as she threw her phone down on the counter before leaning against it and placing her fingers on the bridge of her nose. She looked tense. She could tell that there was something bothering her sister when she came by her video set earlier but was hoping that seeing Della would make her feel a little better.

"Hey," Rayna said and watched her sister jump and try to make it look like there was nothing wrong.

"Hey," Tandy replied.

"What's wrong?" Rayna asked as she made her way over to stand next to her sister. She knew her sister better than just about anyone and could tell just by her body language that something was off.

"Nothing. Why would something be wrong?" Tandy asked.

"You just seem like you have something on your mind. You seem distracted, even. What did you need to talk to me about?"

"No, everything is fine. I'm just worried about Della," Tandy said, trying to make it seem like that was the only thing bothering her. She was truly worried about her daughter. It wasn't like her to run away from her problems and she didn't want her to find out the kind of man her father really was, if she hadn't already.

"She seems fine to me. She was a little upset earlier when I asked her about a song she had written but I haven't noticed anything wrong with her," Rayna explained. "Why are you so worried? I would have thought you would be over the moon."

"I am! I really am. I'm so happy that she's here. I've missed her so much," Tandy answered.

"I know you have, babe."

"I'm just afraid that she's running away from something. It's not like her and she seemed pretty settled the last time I saw her and she never mentioned anything about coming here before now. I'm also afraid what her father is going to do when he finds out that she's here."

"You don't think he would hurt her, do you?" Rayna asked, horrified at even the thought.

Tandy stood up a little straighter and took a deep breath before crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know. I really don't think that he would, but then again I never thought he would hurt me."

"Tandy, this is a little different. Do you really think he would hurt his own daughter?"

"Did you really think he would put his wife in the hospital?" Tandy snapped back. Seeing the surprised look on her sister's face, she continued, "I'm sorry, Rayna. I just, I don't know. She's never said anything about him being violent while she was growing up and I think that would have been something she would mention. I just don't know and that's what terrifies me."

They were interrupted when they heard Daphne yell out that 'Paw Paw' was there. Making their way into the front entryway of the house they watched as the girls made their way to the door. The little ones were so excited to see their grandfather and Della was a bit hesitant but still happy that he would be home. The sisters followed their daughters out of the house just in time for their father to step out of his car.

"Paw Paw!" Daphne cried before throwing her arms around her grandfather. He wrapped his arms around the little girl and looked up to see her sister making her way to them.

"Hi Grandpa," Maddie said.

"Hello darlin'. Come here," Lamar said as he wrapped his other arm around Maddie.

When the young girls stepped away from their grandfather he began to walk up the steps to the house until he looked up to see a young woman standing on one of the lower steps. Doing a double take, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Della?" he asked as he looked between her and his two daughters walking down the steps towards them.

"Hi Grandad," she said softly.

"Well this is a welcome home," he said as he wrapped his arms around his oldest granddaughter. "I have missed you so much, sweetheart. You look more and more like your grandmother every day."

Tandy inwardly shuddered at the comment but couldn't help but agree. Della did look very much like Virginia Wyatt with her dark hair, beautiful eyes and big smile. She also took after her late grandmother where her music was concerned but most people would associate that with Rayna.

"Tandy," Lamar called as he walked over to her to give her a hug. She reluctantly wrapped her arms loosely around him and pulled back as quickly as possible.

"Paw Paw, let's go inside! We made cookies and cards and we're going to sing for you. We practiced a new song just for you!" Daphne went on and began to run back up the stairs into the house, her sister following her not far behind.

The rest of them turned to walk into the house when Tandy looked down at her watch.

"You know, I have to go," she started and went to head towards her car.

"I thought you said you were going to stay for this," Rayna said when she grabbed her sister's arm.

"Mama?" Della asked, searching for anything telling in her mother's expression. "Why don't you just come in for a little while? The girls are real excited to play this song."

"Baby, I really have to go. I have so many things to take care of. But I'll see you later, okay?"

Della looked between her mother and her aunt. "Okay. Where are you staying tonight? Aunt Ray said that you've been staying with her but…"

"Why don't you head over to my place? That way we can have a little more time to talk, okay?" Tandy asked her daughter. She really needed to get away from her father.

When her daughter finally agreed, she kissed her cheek and watched as she walked into the house. Rayna was still standing next to her and Tandy could tell that she was a little more than upset.

"I can't believe you! Our father just got out of prison and you can't take an hour to spend with him?" Rayna laid into her. "What the hell happened between you two?"

"I can't talk to you about it right now. I really have to go," Tandy said, pulling her arm away from her sister.

"Is this what you had to talk to me about? Then talk! Tandy, what is going on?"

"I'm sorry," she said and got into her car and drove away.

Rayna was left standing there wondering what the hell just happened. She knew she noticed something wrong with Tandy and now she was more worried than before. She finally gave up trying to figure it out and went into the house to spend time with her family, only wishing her sister was there as well.

* * *

The show went off without a hitch. The crowd was with him the whole time, following every word of his stories from a lifetime gone by. From the audience's reaction, they couldn't tell that he was a little less connected to the music tonight. The songs he sang were always from the heart but it felt a little different singing them with Megan watching him with a look that made his heart hurt. He didn't want to lie to her but he didn't feel right having her believe things that just weren't true.

"The show was so amazing tonight," Megan gushed. "I mean, look at me! I'm still a mess!"

Deacon could see that her eyes were still a bit red from crying and he said a quiet 'thank you'. He continued to pack up his things to get ready to leave. He was putting his guitar away when he noticed the small pick case in the side compartment of the case. It was silver and engraved. He didn't need to read it, he knew it by heart. Rayna had given it to him years ago and he couldn't make himself stop using it.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

Megan nodded her head and then said, "I think we need to celebrate!" before leaning in to kiss him.

"We could do that," Deacon said, very non-committal, and took her hand to lead her out the door.

* * *

"Hey," Della said as she walked into her mother's kitchen.

"Hey, Baby," Tandy said and made her way over to hug her daughter. She really couldn't get enough of her; she had missed her so much in the years they were apart. Just having her around put Tandy's mind a little at ease.

"I like your hair," she said, reaching up to touch her mother's hair.

"Thank you, Honey. I just wanted a bit of a change."

"Well, it looks really nice," Della started and paused. Tandy could tell she had something more on her mind. "So, you ran off from Grandad's pretty fast," she said as she sat down at the kitchen island.

Her mother chose not to say anything for a moment, instead turning to open the cupboard door and grab two mugs out. She busied herself with getting out some loose leaf tea and filters before putting them into the mugs and filling them with water that was boiling in the kettle on the stove. When she finally turned back around, her daughter was just staring at her, expecting answers.

"Your grandfather and I hadn't really been getting along very well before he was arrested," Tandy offered, hoping that it would be enough for her daughter.

"Is that it? Aunt Ray seems to think it's something more."

"That's it. Why, what did Rayna say?" she asked.

"Nothing, I could just tell that something was bothering her when she came back inside and you weren't with her."

Not wanting to talk about her father anymore, Tandy asked how the girls did with their song. Della told her all about the little performance and their small dinner that they had as a family. She was happy that the girls were still young enough to not understand what a horrible man their grandfather was, but Tandy knew it was only a matter of time before she would have to tell Della what was going on.

After a while of sitting and talking, Della decided to head up to bed. She gave her mother a hug and kiss on the cheek before turning and making her way up to the guest bedroom that was to become hers until she found a place to stay. And after the crazy day that she had had, Tandy wanted nothing more than to be with the one person that wouldn't question her no matter how much she knew he wanted to.

When she opened the door to let him in, Bucky wrapped his arms around her and just like earlier, just held onto her. He knew that Tandy had called because she was stressed about something but she wouldn't tell him and he was just glad that she felt safe enough with him to call. He was her person to call and he was more than okay with that. That's exactly what he wanted.

He pulled back just enough to look at her before she leaned in to press a deep kiss against his lips. His hand right hand made its way up to the back of her neck and his fingers wove their way into the now short strands of red hair. Tandy pulled back from the kiss to grab his hand and pull him further into the house.

"I like your hair this way," Bucky said, admiring the new short hair that she was sporting.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's kinda sexy."

"Oh, really?" Tandy asked with a smirk.

"Yes, really," he answered before pulling on her hand to stop her and turning her around to pull her into another kiss. "Yes, really."

"Well, in that case," she started, before kissing him once more and pulling him towards the stairs to her bedroom. For the night she would forget about her father, Rayna, her ex-husband and just focus on the man that she was very quickly falling in love with.

* * *

Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you liked it! Thank you to the people who have left reviews! That means a lot! I would love to know what people think so leave me comments, suggestions, anything really :) For those concerned, this will be a Deacon/Rayna story but I want to tell more about the people around them as well. I'm hoping that we'll see more of Tandy and Bucky in the up-coming episodes so... As you all can tell, I really like Tandy :) Again, thanks for reading! And sadly, they still don't belong to me, except for Della.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry... This one got away from me... I was planning something totally different and then this came out. Not much Deacon/Rayna in this part either but I promise it will come! The beginning is a bit dark... sorry about that as well. Thank you to those who have read my story. I would love to know what you think.

**Chapter 4**

_She was running through the house, trying her hardest to keep the blood that was seeping out of the deep cut on her palm from falling to the floor. Not really sure why it mattered but it did. Don't get blood on the floor. And breathe. Remember to breathe. It was getting hard to breathe now. She had to find her mother. Finally getting to the landing at the top of the stairs, she heard voices in the kitchen. Taking the stairs two at a time, Della leapt from the second step and landed on both feet unsteadily before dropping to her knees and placing her hands on the floor in front of her._

"_Mama!" she barely got out through her tears and ragged breath before she heard the sound of feet running towards her._

_When Tandy saw her daughter practically sprawled out on the floor she got down on the floor with her to try to figure out what was wrong. Della was crying so hard that her words and breaths were coming out in gasps which her mother was having a hard time making out. Seeing the blood on the floor from the little girl's hands, Tandy reached for the towel that sat on the counter just a few feet away and wrapped it around her hand to stop the bleeding._

"_Della, what happened? What's wrong?"_

"_It's… Aunt… Ray!" she cried and was finally able to get some words out now that she was being comforted by her mother._

"_What do you mean? She's just upstairs, sweetie," Tandy tried to soothe her daughter's cries but at that they seemed to get louder. Della was never really a loud or overdramatic child, so seeing her like this meant something must really be wrong._

"_She won't wake up! I tried to wake her up, but she won't get up! And I tripped and cut my hand on the glass. I'm sorry, Mama," the girl cried and threw herself into her mother's arms when she saw the panicked look cross her face. Tandy felt around her body to see if she had any other wounds from the glass and stood up with her arms securely around her daughter._

"_Della, I need you to hold this towel on your hand, okay?" Tandy instructed her daughter and waited for a nod before she sat her down on the bench beside the staircase. "I need to you stay here and not come upstairs, alright?" Again, she waited for a nod from the little girl before kissing her on the forehead and running into the other room. "Bucky! I need you upstairs!"_

_Della sat quietly on the bench that her mother had placed her on for a few minutes. She watched as both her mother and Bucky ran up the stairs faster than she had ever seen either one of them move in the past. She had no idea what was going on only that she needed to know that her aunt was going to be okay. She knew that she had been really sad and tired for a while because her Uncle Deacon had to go away again. They never told her where he went, only that he was gone but would be back soon and so happy to see her again._

_Della was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard her mother start to cry and yell her aunt's name. There were a lot of loud noises and she couldn't help herself. She had to know what was going on. Slowly, she crept up the stairs and down the hallway to peer into her aunt's bedroom. Her mother was crying and shaking Rayna while Bucky was pacing close by on the phone, holding something small and orange in his hand. She watched as he ended the phone call and threw the phone and the orange thing to the side before rounding the bed to scoop Rayna up in his arms and carry her into the bathroom. He gently placed her in the bathtub and turned the shower on._

"_Rayna, babe, please don't do this. You can't do this to me," her mother kept pleading with Rayna who was still unresponsive. She was crying and her whole body shook from nerves. Della could remember seeing her mother like this only one other time. Della herself had been in a minor car accident when her babysitter had decided to take her out for the day. She suffered a broken wrist and a concussion but seeing her mother's reaction, you would have thought she was on death's door. Watching the scene unfold before her, Della felt like this warranted that kind of response._

_The cold water seemed work a little bit because she heard her aunt moan and saw that she was trying to turn her head away from her mother. Della was shocked when she watched her mother stick her fingers in Rayna mouth and had to look away when her aunt started to vomit. The retching finally stopped and she looked back into the bathroom where her mother was now holding onto her aunt who was now more alert and crying, both soaked from the water streaming down from the shower head._

"_Dr. Pressman said she was on her way. I don't know how many of these pills she took," Bucky said as he bent down next to Tandy. He turned the water off and grabbed a few towels to dry the women off. Bucky stood up and walked towards the door, letting Tandy be the one to remove Rayna's clothes and dry her off, when he noticed Della standing there watching everything. He held his finger to his mouth as if to tell her to stay quiet and closed the door behind him before taking her in his arms and just holding her._

Della woke up suddenly gasping for air. It had been so long since that memory had passed through her mind that she had almost been able to pass it off as a childhood nightmare. Almost. Seeing Deacon yesterday brought up some of these things she thought were buried so deep that no one could get to them. She wasn't even sure that her mother knew that she had seen everything that happened with Rayna. Bucky never told her whether or not he let her know.

It was late but her mind was racing now. Getting up out of bed Della made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. There were a few dim lights on throughout the main floor, something that used to drive her father crazy but her mother insisted upon, so she was able to navigate her way through the house with relative ease. She was still getting used to this place. The mansion that her parents shared when they were married was way too large for a family of only three and her mother hated the place. This much smaller but still upscale house fit her mother much better.

After opening several cabinet doors to find a glass, she filled it with water from the tap and sat down at the island. The visions from her nightmare still fresh in her mind, Della looked down at her right palm and ran her fingers over the scar that was still quite visible even after seeing a number of plastic surgeons at her father's insistence. It was something she did when she was nervous. Some people crack their knuckles, others bounce their legs. Della runs her fingers over a scar that was placed there from a shard of glass broken from a Jack Daniels bottle over fifteen years ago. Someone clearing their throat jared Della out of her trance. When she looked up, Bucky was standing there watching her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said as he made his way into the kitchen. On the first try, Bucky opened the right cabinet door to grab a glass and fill it with water. Della smiled softly to herself thinking that he must spend a lot of time here.

"No, no, you didn't. I didn't even know that you were here. Staying here, I mean," she replied then asked what he was doing awake. It was so late.

"Uh, yeah. And I could ask you the same thing about being awake," was his retort when he took the seat next to her. Della shrugged her shoulders and told him that she couldn't sleep.

"Being here is different than I thought it would be. Coming back, I mean. It's harder for some reason."

"A lot has changed since you've been gone. It's been almost fifteen years since you've even been in Nashville. Things were bound to change," Bucky reminded her. It had been that long.

"Is Mama asleep?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah," he answered with a far off look on his face. He could tell earlier that something was bothering Tandy but he didn't push it. When he walked in the door she had clung to him as her body trembled. From her body language, Bucky could tell that his suspicions were correct and Tandy hadn't actually been away at a spa. He knew that she hated those places and only went to them when she was with Rayna. Tandy never told Rayna that she didn't like them so it was understandable that her sister would not question her. He could also tell that she didn't want to or couldn't talk about what was wrong so he left it alone.

"Is something wrong?" Della asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh, um. Not that I know of. Why? Did she seem off to you?"

Bucky wanted to gauge her reaction. It had been a long time since he spent any significant time with the young women in front of him but what he remembered of her as a child was that she was the perfect combination of both Tandy and Rayna. She was smart and determined like her mother but also a very emotional and passionate person just like her aunt. She also couldn't really hide her emotions that well from the people who knew her. That was more from Rayna and it reminded him again that something must be horribly wrong with Tandy if he could tell, or anyone for that matter.

"Off? I don't think so. I feel like you would know better than me these days. I thought she would be a bit happier to see me, though," she answered quietly.

"Sweetie, she is so happy that you're here. I think she's just a bit stressed with the label and everything that's going on with your grandfather. I think it was just a shock to see you here, that's all," he tried to reassure the young woman.

"I don't know. I guess you're right. Everything has changed. I don't know where I fit into her life anymore," Della said softly, staring off at nothing as her fingers found their place in the groove on her right palm. Bucky's eyes fell to her hands, watching her trace the scar, then he reached out and took them into his own hands.

"You fit anywhere and everywhere you want in her life. She loves you more than anything, Della. You and Rayna are the most important things in your mother's life, you have to know that. And this," he indicated to the scar on her hand. "This was a very long time ago."

Della could tell in just these last few minutes of talking with Bucky why her mother cared about him so much. She always knew him and loved him when she was a child but now that she had a different look on life she was so happy her opinion of him hadn't changed. And now it felt like he was offering her some fatherly advice, something that she hadn't had in years. She always had commands not advice. Their eyes met and an understanding passed between them before Della stood up, offered on last small smile, and walked back up to her room.

Bucky watched her walk away hoping that he got her to understand a little bit what had been going on the last few years. He knew that Tandy had filled her in for the most part but his girlfriend had a way of leaving the not so pleasant things out, especially when speaking to her daughter. He grabbed their glasses and put them into the dishwasher before he made his way back upstairs as well. When he walked into Tandy's bedroom, he just stood in the doorway looking at her small frame curled up on her side. Over the last few months they've grown so close but he felt like she was closing down on him. He just hoped that whatever it was that was bothering her they would be able to figure it out together.

Giving up on his inner struggle for the night, Bucky closed the door and walked towards the bed before lifting the covers to climb underneath. When he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her body against his he felt her tense up. He softly told her it was alright, it was just him, and kissed the back of her neck before he felt her settle again. She was back to sleep in a few minutes but Bucky didn't feel sleep coming to him anytime soon with his conversation with Della and the uneasiness of Tandy running through his mind. It was going to be a long night.

The next morning, Bucky awoke to an empty bed. He had only fallen asleep maybe an hour beforehand and was surprised that he didn't wake up when Tandy had gotten out of bed. He made his way down the stairs and was happy to hear laughter coming from the kitchen. It eased his mind a bit after the rough night they had all been through. Standing in the entryway to the kitchen, he watched mother and daughter work their way around each other as if they had been doing it every day for years. There was flour everywhere, it seemed. Della was making some kind of biscuit while Tandy was making coffee and watching her daughter press and knead the dough on the countertop. He could get used to seeing this in the morning.

Years ago, when Rayna had first hired Bucky, he remembered meeting Tandy for the first time. Della was almost a year old and she was her mother's shadow. Tandy couldn't go anywhere or do anything without the little girl with her, which she was more than happy to accommodate. He remembers feeling an instant connection with her but didn't think about it too much as they were both married to other people at the time.

Getting to know Rayna and Tandy had been two completely different experiences. Rayna was very open and outgoing and they hit it off very quickly. He had her best interests at heart for both her career and personal life so they got along great and he was good at his job. Tandy, on the other hand, was much more closed off than her sister. She took after their father that way and he could tell that she was holding back for other reasons as well. It wasn't until he started interacting with Della that he got to know Tandy a bit better. He wouldn't know about her horrible marriage until much later but he enjoyed their time together. He and his wife, Kate, had been trying to have a child for a while so he took advantage of spending time with little girl as 'practice' and secretly didn't mind spending time with her mother as well.

When his wife was diagnosed with leukemia, he had taken time off to help her through chemo and just spend time with her. During that time he and Tandy had shared several phone calls and had even met up for lunch a few times, if only to get him out of the house for a bit. Della would always come with her mother but it usually ended up being the adults who held long conversations while the little girl played and then fell asleep for her nap.

He felt guilty for spending time with another woman but Tandy helped him and she was ultimately off-limits so he didn't see the hurt in it. She was his employer's sister and also married, as was he. If he knew then that her husband had thought they were having an affair and used that as his excuse to hit her for the first time, he would have stayed away. Or he would have taken her away. There were so many things he would have changed.

He should have known something was up when Tandy started to pull away from their friendship. She wouldn't talk to him the way she had and started making excuses to not get together. And then he almost forgot about the strange way she was acting because Kate had gotten so sick. The treatments weren't working and she was deteriorating fast. It wasn't long before the disease was too much for her body to handle and took her life, leaving Bucky to grieve for her and not even being able to call the only person he felt understood him.

He had focused himself on Rayna and her career in order to not think about the pain he was in. One bright spot for him was always Della. Even though Tandy was busy finishing her MBA, she spent all of her free time with Rayna, which meant that she brought her daughter around a lot. Bucky was glad for the distraction and in some ways credited the little girl for helping him heal.

When Tandy's husband had taken Della away years later, he was shocked, as were so many other people. On the outside, they had the perfect marriage with the big house, important jobs and perfect daughter. People didn't know about the dirty business that Charles Hampton ran to keep that big house, they didn't know about the fights and they surely didn't know that on more than one occasion, those fights left Tandy broken and bruised, both emotionally and physically. Thankfully they had divorced but not before he took almost everything that she loved most.

Even then, it had taken Bucky years to think about even dating another woman and even though Tandy was single by that time, he thought better of it. The way that she had pulled away from him had left him confused at the time and he was often unsure of how to act around her. They slowly rebuilt their friendship but then Tandy joined her father's company and he barely saw her anymore.

When Rayna and Teddy decided to get divorced, she moved in with Tandy, which meant he would be seeing more of her. It wasn't until they were all in New York when he saw her taking care of her young nieces that he was brought back. He watched her take such great care of those girls and it made him sad to know that she never got to continue raising her own daughter.

After the show one night, when the girls had fallen asleep, Tandy must have come down for some time alone to think. Bucky found her in a chair against the wall in the bar where the rest of the crew was still partying, an untouched glass of wine on the table. When she offered him the seat across from her, he sat down and they chatted like old times. He wasn't sure if it was her laugh or the way her hand kept touching his, but he had this sudden urge to kiss her and when he walked her back to her room, he did just that.

"Hey, Babe," Tandy called, pulling him out of his thoughts. She was walking over to him and he eyed Della at the counter.

She let out a small laugh before saying, "It's okay. I'm not twelve. You can kiss my mother in front of me."

Tandy laughed softly as she gave him a quick kiss and placed a cup of coffee in his hand and said, "Good morning."

Bucky blushed lightly and cleared his throat before saying, "Good morning."

Della laughed again and continued to knead the dough before rolling it out and cutting out circles to place on a baking sheet that was to the side of her work area. She placed them into the oven as she watched Bucky whisper something to her mother, which made her smile, then came to sit down on the other side of the island. Her mother came back around to her side and began making the eggs to go with her biscuits. It made Della pause for a moment. This is what she always wanted as a little girl.

"So, did you get a chance to talk to Rayna yesterday?" Bucky asked her mother. When she turned to look at Tandy, she noticed that she stilled her movements just enough that one wouldn't have noticed if they weren't paying attention.

"Uh, no. Not yet. Everything with Daddy coming home yesterday and I needed to get some of the accounts settled, I didn't get a chance. I'm going to head over there this morning and hopefully be able to talk," Tandy answered.

Bucky reluctantly seemed satisfied with that answer and turned his attention back to his coffee cup. The timer buzzed on the biscuits just in time for the eggs to be served and they all sat down to eat breakfast together. When they all finished, Tandy got up and cleared everyone's plates and began cleaning up.

"What are your plans today, sweetie?" Tandy asked her.

"I'm going to go downtown for a while. I was thinking of dropping off my resume at a few places. I saw this really cute place called _flour. sugar. eggs._ that I was thinking of putting in an application."

"That's great, honey. I love that place," her mother said and then turned to Bucky. "You're going over paperwork for the label today, right?"

"Um, no actually. I'm going around with Scarlett today. We have a couple of interviews to do and I wanted to get her back in the studio with Liam before he leaves town later this week."

"Oh, okay. I guess that leaves me some time with Rayna," Tandy said.

Della eyed her mother for a minute before jumping up to excuse herself. "I'm going to get ready for the day. See you both later?" When they both nodded their heads, she leaned over to kiss her mother on the cheek and then went upstairs to her room to get showered and dressed.

"Everything okay?" Bucky asked as he got up and walked around the island to where she was standing.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know. You just seem nervous about talking to your sister," he said. When she didn't say anything he continued, "I don't know what it is that you have to tell her, and I'm not going to ask you, but you have to just talk to her. She's your sister and she loves you."

"I know. I just," she started but just couldn't find the words.

"It can't be that bad."

With that, he took her hands and held them. He was about to walk away when Tandy pulled on his hand to stop him. He wanted to offer his support in any way possible so he simply pulled her into his arms and held her for a moment. When he let her go she leaned in to kiss him softly before they turned to head upstairs to get ready for the day. Lord knows it was going to be a long one.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to those who are reading my story! This chapter is a bit of a filler... sorry. I wanted to change how Rayna found out about everything so... It also sets up a few situations to come. I really hope you like it.

**Chapter 5**

Megan heard her phone buzz again and looked at the illuminated screen to see the same name appear as it had the last ten times her phone had buzzed. It was Teddy Conrad. She thought she had made herself clear when she quit the case but he didn't seem to get the hint. If she was honest, she really didn't want to quit the case. She wanted justice for that man's family and also justice for Peggy. She knew in her gut that Lamar Wyatt had something to do with it but now she had to sit back and let someone else figure it out and it was driving her crazy.

It was early but she was surprised that Deacon wasn't awake yet. He was usually an early riser but the show must have taken a lot out of him. He hadn't done a full set since before the accident and his hand was probably bothering him. Either way, it gave her time to clean up from last night where they ate dessert at the coffee table.

She began walking around the living room to pick up and moved one of Deacon's guitars out of the way. When she placed it on its stand, she noticed the leather bound book lying on the floor next to it. Letting curiosity get the best of her, Megan picked it up and started flipping through pages. She wanted to read all the lyrics to the song that Deacon had written for her. She had been so taken away by the fact that he dedicated the song to her that she barely paid mind to the lyrics.

She went all the way to the back of the book, thinking that if he had just written it that it would be towards the end. The last few songs that she found were 'Playin' Tricks' and 'You're the Kind of Trouble'. which she knew that he had written close to when they started dating so it seemed odd that this new song was not there. She started flipping back a few pages and noticed a different handwriting. It was definitely a woman's and Megan got a feeling that she knew exactly who the writing belonged to.

Pushing the tug of jealousy aside, she continued to turn back the pages. There were several more pages with the two distinctly different writing styles and Megan couldn't really make herself read the beautiful lyrics written between them. She finally found the song she was looking for on a page that was dated last summer and had to close the book. She wanted to throw it across the room but knew that was childish and also Deacon would know that she was snooping through his songbook. He was always so protective of it and now she knew why.

She couldn't believe that he would lie to her about the song but when she thought about it, he never actually told her he had written it for her. She simply assumed that it was about her because of the way he had spoken to her weeks before telling her how happy he was, how happy she made him. He could have corrected her but she knew Deacon well enough now to know that he wouldn't want to make her feel bad. He's never hidden the fact that he loved Rayna; Megan just didn't think that he was still in love with her. Well, she did now.

She heard rustling in the next room and quickly put the songbook down where it was before and stood up to continue cleaning up. When Deacon walked down the hallway, he went straight for the coffee pot and poured himself a large cup with a little milk before raising it to his nose to inhale the strong aroma and taking a sip. When he looked up across the room, he gave Megan a small smile and a soft 'good morning' and turned to find something to fix for breakfast. She watched him and felt like she was seeing him in a new light. She didn't want to but she couldn't help it.

"What are your plans for today?" she asked once he had settled down with a bowl of cereal. "I mean, now that you're done with the album, do you have any plans today?"

"I was going to check out how it sounded with Avery and we have a bunch of things to do with it in the studio," he answered after he finished chewing the spoonful of cereal he had just piled into his mouth.

"Oh, I thought that he was going to do that."

"Well, there's a lot more to making an album than just recording it. I still have a lot to do so I'm going to be busy for a while," Deacon explained.

Megan just nodded her head and continued to clean. She couldn't get the words from that song out of her head. The words he had written for Rayna and not her. Thinking back on it now, most of the songs on the album that he recorded last night were probably about Rayna.

"Okay. Well, I'm going to go back to my place to get some things done," she said and jumped up to head towards the bedroom before Deacon could respond.

"Okay," he said to himself as he tucked back into his cereal. He always had a hard time reading women and Megan seemed to be no different. The only woman he could ever truly read was Rayna and that was still true to this day. But it seemed like it was something he would have to find some way around if he was ever going to have a relationship that worked. It wasn't happening any time soon.

* * *

Rayna was making a cup of tea when she heard her door open. She turned around to see her sister walk through the entryway and she waved her in. Tandy walked up to the kitchen island and placed her bag down then took off her coat to sit down in one of the chairs. She watched as Rayna reached back into the cupboard for another mug to make her some tea as well. She hadn't said anything and it was always telling when Rayna chose silence over words.

Tandy knew that she had upset her sister yesterday by not staying at their father's but she couldn't bring herself to be friendly to a man that would no sooner kill her than hug her if he knew what she had done. She still felt that she had done the right thing by turning her father in but as Bucky had pointed out, she was also involved in a lot of those dealings. She never really had a say in how he did his business but she chose to stay when her gut was telling her to leave because she didn't believe in doing things the wrong way. Her father's ends never justified his means.

Thinking back, she wasn't even sure why she stayed. She had been working for a smaller business firm and was quite happy with her work until her life completely fell apart. She had to quit her job when her husband left and took Della with him. She just couldn't deal with everything and she felt she owed her father for taking her into the company once she was back on her feet again. Even with that, it still didn't make it right.

Rayna came around the island and placed the cup of tea in front of her, causing Tandy to look up. When their eyes met, she knew she was in for it.

"So, you want to tell me what was so important that you had to leave your family to go do?" Rayna asked.

"Well, sweetheart, there's something that I have to talk to you about. Why don't you sit down?" Tandy motioned towards the chair next to hers. Rayna huffed and finally sat down next to her sister and watched as she took a deep breath.

"What is it, Tandy?"

"A few months ago, right before your accident, the US Attorney's office contacted me about some dealings in Wyatt Industries. They wanted me to give them information for a case against Daddy…"

Rayna pushed back from the island counter and stood up from the chair before whirling back around to look at her sister. "You're not telling me that you're the reason why he was in prison! All this time you've been acting like you knew nothing about it!"

"Rayna, calm down. He's the reason he was in prison. He should still be there as far as I'm concerned."

"What the hell happened between you two? What did he do to you? Or did they have something on you? Because I know that you play dirty just as well as Daddy!" Rayna continued to yell.

She knew this was how Rayna was going to react. She's always been a react first kind of girl, ever since they were young. Rayna always flew off the handle then Tandy would have to calm her down. Looking at her sister now, some things never changed. Rayna had stopped yelling and was now just glaring at her older sister. Tandy turned to reach for a file that was in her bag and pulled it out to place on the counter in front of Rayna.

"I kept telling them no until they told me that there could be a connection between him and mom's death. So, I looked into it. He was there, Rayna. He ran her off the road that night," she explained.

"How long have you known?" Rayna asked. She was completely shocked by not only the fact that her father had lied to her for over thirty years but also that her sister would keep something like this from her.

"Since right before he was arrested," Tandy answered softly.

"And you didn't tell me? How could you keep something like that from me?" Rayna yelled.

"I couldn't tell you. They wouldn't let me, but I'm telling you now."

"No wonder you took off. Daddy's trial was starting. Did they have to prep you? I'm sure all the lies just come naturally by now!" she said, continuing to throw as many insults at her older sister as possible. By this time she was pacing back and forth in her kitchen and stopped when Tandy started to speak again.

"I 'took off' as you call it because I was afraid that he was going to have me killed. He thought that Teddy was the witness and he would have had me killed if he knew it was me. I didn't think he would be able to do anything from prison until Peggy was shot," Tandy tried to explain.

"Teddy? Teddy was almost killed because of you?" Rayna asked. So many things were being thrown at her at once she was having a hard time following everything.

"No. Rayna, that's on Daddy. That's not on me. I would never do something to hurt him. We may not see eye to eye but he means the world to the girls and I know how much it would hurt them. Rayna, you have to believe me," she pleaded.

"I don't know what to believe anymore! You should have told me. All this family ever does it lie."

"Like you've never kept something from someone you loved for the greater good." The words were out of Tandy's mouth before she could stop them. It happened so fast that she didn't even have time to react when her sister's hand came up and slapped her, hard, on the left cheek.

"Rayna!"

Rayna's head flew up when she heard her name being yelled from the door, her hand still in the air. Della had just walked in the door and must have witnessed what just happened because she ran to her mother and wrapped her arm around her. That was when Rayna noticed that Tandy hadn't moved aside from raising her hand to her cheek. She heard Della talking to her but she wasn't responding. She finally heard Tandy say that she was fine and she walked into the small bathroom down the hall.

"I can't believe that you would hit her," Della said when she finally turned to look at her aunt after she was watched her mother walk away.

Rayna just stood watching as Della went about collecting her mother's things. The bag on the counter, her coat and scarf that had been tossed over the back of her chair and her phone that sat in front of it. When she reached for the file, Rayna grabbed it.

"I'm going to keep this, I still have to look at it," she said.

"Whatever," Della mumbled as she went to walk down the hallway to find her mother.

"Hey, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit her. She just," Rayna started then stopped short when Della turned back around to face her.

"I don't care what she just did! It doesn't give you the right to hit her," Della said as she finally went down the hallway to get her mother.

Rayna watched as her sister and niece walked out of the house. She noticed that Tandy's face looked like she had been crying. She felt awful for actually slapping her sister across the face but she was still so angry with her. She lied to her just like their father had lied to them their whole lives. In her mind, Tandy was no different than her father and she felt horrible feeling that way about her sister.

Rayna had so many conflicting emotions running through her right now she didn't know which way was up. She needed someone that she could talk to. That person had always been Tandy or Deacon and now she couldn't call either one of them. It had been awkward the last time she spoke with Deacon and she wasn't sure how he would react if she called him now because she was having a family crisis. She knew that she could call Luke but it just didn't feel right.

"No," she said to herself and shook her head as if to ward off the thoughts. There was one person that she had to talk to about this whole mess and she was dreading it. She had to talk to her father.

* * *

Della closed the door to her mother's bedroom and leaned back against it. She was scared. Her mother had been so quiet on the ride home, just looking out the window but more than likely not actually seeing what was passing her by. When they got home, Della got a good look at Tandy's face and noticed that it was red and not only from crying. The curse of having pale skin was that any mark would be seen for days but nothing that a little extra makeup couldn't cover up.

Clearly, Tandy was still very upset about whatever conversation she had with Rayna so Della chose not to ask about it. Instead, she made her mother a cup of tea and handed her a light sleeping pill then helped her up to her bedroom. Before she fell asleep, she grabbed for her daughter's hand and pulled her to sit on the bed with her. It didn't take long for Della to climb under the covers with her mother and wait for her to relax and fall asleep. She remembers doing this as a child; hearing her parents fight, watching her mother crawl into bed favoring one limb or another and seeking solace in the fact that she was okay and it was over for the night. Hopefully this was going to be over soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** This chapter just really didn't want to be written and I'm not entirely sure that I'm happy with it. Most of it has been sitting on my computer since before the show came back from its three week break but I've been stuck… I went to Canada for a weekend, battled a pretty tough cold that took me out for about a week and a half and then I was sucked into House of Cards. Also, the show has been completely uninspiring as of late so I'm very sorry for the delay. I do hope that the people that are reading it like it. I would love to hear what you think!

**Chapter 6**

Rayna sat in her kitchen staring down at the cup of tea that was wrapped up in her hands. She was trying her best to pull the heat from the small cup and ward off the chill that had settled in her body the day before. The chill had nothing to do with the temperature of the air but the distance she now wanted to put between herself and the rest of her family.

The night before she had gone to her father's house to confront him about the stories her sister had told her and he couldn't even deny it. He spun his tale like he was a lovesick man desperate to keep the love of his life when really he was an overbearing husband who wouldn't let his wife be who she really was. Rayna didn't know what to believe until she flat-out asked her father if he tried to have Teddy killed. Leaving the house, she swore she would never forgive him and he was dead to her.

Just a few days ago she was thinking that she was content with the way things were going. Making sure to steer clear of her love life, she was content. She had her amazing daughters, her niece that she loved like a daughter, her sister who was her best friend and her father was finally coming home. Granted, they never had a good relationship, but it had improved over the last year. Now, she still had her daughters but her niece was upset with her and her sister and father were both liars.

The phone ringing pulled Rayna from the hole she was going down. She went to reach for her cell when she realized that it was the house line that was ringing. She jumped up and padded over to the end table where the phone sat and picked it up, bringing it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak with Ms. Rayna Jaymes, please?" the voice on the other end asked.

"This is she. May I ask who's calling?" Rayna asked.

"Yes, Ms. Jaymes. My name is Dr. Helene Carter. I'm head of cardiology at Vanderbilt Medical Center," the woman replied.

"Dr. Carter, I remember speaking with you about my father last year. What can I do for you?"

"I'm afraid that I'm calling with some bad new," the doctor started. "Your father was brought in by ambulance about an hour ago. He suffered another severe heart attack."

"I'm not the person…" Rayna began to explain that she wasn't the person to contact about her father's health, when the doctor interrupted her.

"Ms. Jaymes, I'm afraid we were unable to start your father's heart again when he reached our hospital."

"What?" Rayna asked as she slowly lowered herself down on the chair next to her.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this over the phone…" was all Rayna heard. She knew what the doctor had to tell her but she just stopped listening.

"I'm sorry doctor, but I'm really not the person to contact about this. I don't know anything he had arranged. Contact my sister or his CFO, Albert. They would know better than me. Thank you for calling," Rayna said and hung up the phone before the doctor had time to respond to her.

Just last night Rayna had told her father that he was dead to her and now he really was. She didn't know how to feel. She was still so furious knowing that he had lied to her for over thirty years about one of the most important things in her life, but he was still her father. It's times like these when she wished that she still didn't know about her mother's affair with Watty White. If she didn't know that, then she wouldn't have realized why her father had such a problem with her life choices which then led to them having a relationship after a lifetime of nothing. There would be no gray area. Now things were just that much more complicated.

"Aunt Ray?"

Rayna jumped when she heard her name being called. She turned towards the door and saw that her niece had walked in and was making her way over to her. The look on the young woman's face was hard to read with the mixture of confusion, worry and even a little bit of annoyance. Rayna figured that Della was still upset with her over her fight with Tandy yesterday but that somehow seemed to be one of the furthest things from her mind.

"Ray?" Della called again.

"What?" she snapped a little too sharply and saw the worry drop from Della's face and turn to just plain hurt. "I'm sorry, Della. What's going on?"

"I thought I would come over here to see if I could figure that out," she said as she sat down on the coffee table in front of her aunt. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? Your mother didn't tell you what happened?" Rayna asked.

"She hasn't said anything to me!" her niece cried.

"I don't know what to tell you, Della. Your mother can be difficult sometimes."

"This isn't her being difficult, Rayna, this is her shutting down. I know you think I don't remember or didn't know what was going on, but I did. I was there. Now I'm really worried about her. I don't care what happened or what you were fighting about. All I care about is making sure that she's okay," she explained.

Rayna could see that the younger woman was truly worried and she couldn't really blame her. Most people that knew Tandy today would never believe what she had been through. She came off as strong and confidant, no one would ever think of her as weak or vulnerable. But Rayna remembers going to pick her sister up after Charlie had laid into her one night. She didn't speak the whole night other than to ask where Della was. She seemed to go into this shock-like trance as if trying to close off the rest of the world and erase the last few hours. She scared Rayna when she was like that and now Rayna could see that she was scaring her daughter.

"Della, I can't…" she started and looked up into Della's hazel eyes. Eyes so much like her grandmother's it was eerie. "There's so much going on right now."

"Then tell me what's going on," Della pleaded.

Rayna stood up from the couch and walked back into the kitchen where she placed the phone down, just now realizing that she was still clutching it in her hands. She heard he niece follow her into the kitchen and stand next to her, waiting for an explanation. Internally debating for a moment whether or not to tell Della everything, she settled on the truth.

"Your mother and I got into a fight last night because she lied to me. I didn't mean to hit her, it just happened. I'm sorry, Della," Rayna explained some of the truth that was to be told.

"Because she lied to you? What could have been so important that you would slap your sister across the face?" Della asked.

"You know, I'm just so sick of everyone in my life lying to me all the time!" she finally admitted. Yes, she was upset about what her sister had kept from her but she was more upset about the fact that she did it in the first place. Tandy was the one person she could always trust to have her back and now she felt like she didn't have that anymore.

"Well, join the club," the younger woman mumbled. "Everyone, my whole life, has lied to me. Whether it's you and Mama not telling me what was going on between her and my father or it was my father telling me that this part of my family didn't want me anymore. How does it feel? I'm sorry she lied to you but I'm sure she had a good reason for it."

Rayna was shocked by the outburst that came from the young woman in front of her. Although she had been waiting for some of her emotions to play out, Rayna didn't think they would be focused at her. Granted, she didn't want her sister to take the brunt of her niece's anger but she didn't expect Della to be angry with her. Rayna then watched as the anger on her face was hidden just as quickly as it had appeared.

"That's really all that's going on?" Della asked, letting out a deep breath as she got her emotions back in check.

"Well, no. I just got off the phone with a doctor from the hospital." She paused just a moment before saying, "Daddy's dead."

The look of shock that swept over the young woman's face was heartbreaking even though Rayna still had no idea how she felt about the situation. What she did know was that her niece didn't know any of the horrible things her grandfather had done and also thought that she was finally going to be a part of his life again. Rayna also knew that despite Della's absence, her father had loved his oldest granddaughter dearly.

"Come 'ere," Rayna said as she pulled Della into her arms.

"How?" she asked.

"Well, honey, I don't know if your mama told you that he had a pretty severe heart attack last year. He never really recovered fully from it and I guess he had another one this morning. She just called me when you walked in the door; that's all I know," Rayna explained.

"Does Mama know?" When Rayna shook her head, Della continued. "Are you going to tell her?"

"I don't think your mama will want to see me," she admitted.

"Aunt Ray, I don't think she's going to care about that."

"I just can't, Della," Rayna said and backed away from her niece to walk down the hallway. Della stood and watched her walk away, completely confused by what had just happened. She couldn't imagine what could have happened that would cause such a divide between her mother and aunt but right now she knew what she had to do.

Della pulled out her phone and quickly found the name she was looking for before hitting send and bringing it to her ear. She waited for the person on the other end to pick up and was relieved that she didn't have to wait very long.

"Bucky, hi. Can you meet me at home?" She waited while he gave her his answer and finally turned to leave the house. Whatever was going on was going to have to wait. Her mother was more important.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Bucky knocked lightly on the front door of Tandy's house. Usually he would have just let himself in, he had his own key, but he was still a little unsure of how Della would feel about that. Although she seemed fine with him being there the other night, he didn't want to overstep where she was concerned or take away from the renewed relationship mother and daughter were forming.

After knocking a few times, he decided to let himself in either way. The house was quiet, which was not unusual, but he was expecting at least Della to be there. Tandy's car was in the drive but figured she must not be there because she didn't answer the door. He made his way into the kitchen and was about to pull out his phone when he noticed Tandy sitting on the small couch, wrapped in a blanket.

He called her name as he walked over to where she was sitting. When she didn't even acknowledge that he was there, Bucky sat down on the coffee table in front of her and reached out to touch her arm. He quickly pulled away when she flinched and backed herself away from him. She finally turned to face him and Bucky watched as the realization came over her of who it was and she practically threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Whoa, hey what's wrong?" Bucky asked as he moved onto the couch next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. When she didn't answer, he pulled her tighter to him and let her settle. He had a feeling that something was off since Tandy had gotten back and knew that it had finally come to a head. Bucky pulled back from her when she seemed to relax and it was then that he noticed the mark on her left cheek. "What happened?"

The door opening saved Tandy from having to answer and they both looked towards to hallway to see Della walking into the room. Tandy got up from her seat to walk over to her daughter and kissed her lightly on the cheek before saying that she would be right back. Della could clearly see the confused look on Bucky's face and simply waved her hand in the direction that her mother had just run off in.

"What's going on, Della?"

So she explained, to the best of her knowledge, what had happened between Rayna and Tandy yesterday. She cringed a little when she had to tell him that Rayna had actually slapped Tandy. Bucky looked like he wanted to slap something but restrained when Della finally told him that they had to tell Tandy about her Lamar. He knew how upset she was going to be no matter the tension that was between them as of late.

When Tandy came back a short while later, Bucky noticed that the mark on her face was not as viable. She must have put some makeup over it so it didn't stand out so much against her pale skin. She could tell that Della and Bucky had been talking about something serious and they proved her right when they told her to sit down before beginning their discussion.

It had been horrible. Della had tried to break the news as gently as possible and silently cursed her aunt for making her do this. She watched as her mother broke down in tears that it seems no one could help soothe away. Bucky was on one side of her while Della was on the other and they simply held her as she cried. She kept saying that she wanted him punished but not dead. Della seemed to not be paying attention to her words but they struck Bucky as odd. She had said the same thing the night before and he wondered what she wanted him punished for.

* * *

Megan walked through the lobby at city hall and noticed there were quite a few people hanging around. More than usual but she continued her way up to the mayor's office because she had to tell Teddy what she had decided about the case. After finding Deacon's songbook, Megan had thought about what she had given up in order to please him. She had given away a very important case, one that could really help her career in the firm, so Deacon wouldn't feel threatened by Teddy when he had continued to write songs with a woman that he was still in love with. It didn't seem fair.

"Hey, can I talk to you a minute?" Megan asked as she knocked softly on the open door of Teddy's office.

"Yeah, sure. Come in," he answered and motioned for her to close the door.

"So, I've decided that I'm back on the case," she began until Teddy cut her off.

"Lamar is dead."

"What? What happened?" Megan asked, completely shocked by the news.

"He had another heart attack. He was here and he started yelling at me about being the witness. I knew I shouldn't have done it but I egged him on. I told him that it was Tandy that turned him in. I knew that it would upset him more than anything and I wanted him to hurt," Teddy began rambling.

"Teddy…"

"I don't know why she did it. I just kept saying that she was just like him. I just wanted to hurt him so bad and then he grabbed his chest. He kept asking me for help and I could have called for help but I just watched him. I didn't want to help him; I wanted him to pay for what he had done to Peggy!"

By this time Megan had moved around his desk and placed both of her hands on Teddy shoulders to try and calm him down or just to stop him from talking. If anyone had walked in at that moment and heard what he just said, he could be in serious trouble. And then it sunk in. This man had let someone die right in front of him because he wanted revenge. She knew what that felt like but didn't think she could ever do something like that.

It took her a few minutes to finally calm Teddy down and convinced him that he should go home for the day. He asked her to join him, to which she declined, and then decided that he needed to stop to see Rayna before going home. This was not a visit he was looking forward to.

* * *

The next few days went by in a blur. Rayna and Tandy were still not speaking, which was putting both Bucky and Della in awkward positions playing go-between with the two sisters. Actually, Rayna wasn't really speaking to anyone. She closed herself up so tight that no one could get around the walls she had built, including Deacon. He had been around quite a bit saying that he was looking out for Maddie but everyone knew that he was there to watch over Rayna as well. He knew she was going to reach her breaking point and wanted to be there to help her when she did.

The funeral was a small affair with only family and a few close business associates there. Rayna watched Tandy as tears streamed down her face and still couldn't make herself forgive her sister just yet. That being said, she was glad when she saw Bucky wrap his arms around her. He was a good man and Rayna felt bad for putting him in the middle of this fight with her sister. He hadn't said anything but she could tell that he was more than a little upset with her with the way she reacted to her sister. He was always a man of few words but Rayna knew him well enough now to tell.

Everyone had gathered back at her father's house afterwards and Rayna was surprised when Juliette walked through the door. It was true that they had never really gotten along that well but Rayna felt that Juliette had grown up a little in the last few months. She had also been a good friend to Maddie when she needed it and Rayna would forever be grateful to her for that.

"How are you holding up?" Juliette asked when she walked over to Rayna.

"I'm fine," Rayna lied.

"Okay… Look, I know I'm not the first person that you would want to turn to but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here," Juliette offered.

Rayna turned to look at her and could tell that she was being sincere. She realized that she was seeing what Deacon had been trying to get her to see since they first met. He had always told Rayna that Juliette was a good person and a good friend but she had never experienced it first-hand. It felt good to finally look at this person and not see the spoiled brat that she always acted like and see a young woman who was growing into her own.

"Thank you," she replied and left it at that. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now and Juliette took the hint and changed the subject.

"Who's the girl over there?" Juliette asked when she pointed to Della.

"That's my niece, Della," Rayna answered as she watched the younger woman tend to her mother. Tandy seemed to be doing better now than at the funeral but Rayna could tell that she was still struggling.

"I didn't know that you had a niece."

"Yeah, she just came home a few weeks ago."

"Please tell me that she's not like Deacon's niece," she mumbled. When Rayna didn't comment, Juliette knew that it was time to leave her alone. "Well, I'm going to go see how Maddie's doing and then head out. I am really sorry and I meant what I said."

"Thank you Juliette, really," Rayna said and the younger woman walked away.

Rayna looked around at the few people that were in her father's house and couldn't tell why most of them were there. Her father didn't have many friends, only business associates. He built his bridges until he didn't need them anymore and then demolished them, leaving no traces behind. She would be happy when they all left so she could be alone with her thoughts.

While scanning the room, she saw that Juliette was indeed checking on Maddie before giving her a hug and walking towards the door, Tandy was sitting with Della and Bucky, and Teddy was holding a very tired looking Daphne. She hadn't realized it but she was actually looking for someone and he was nowhere to be found. She shouldn't want him to comfort her right now but that's all she could think about. She just wanted to forget the rest and lose herself in the safe feeling she always had when she was in his arms.

Feeling the need to be alone, Rayna walked towards her father's study. She remembers coming in here as a child and just waiting for him to come home from a business trip. As much as she was like her mother, she was a daddy's girl when she was little. She balked at Tandy last year when she had said that to her but then remembered that it was true. She had buried all the good memories with the bad because there were more of them to hide under. Now even those few good memoires were tainted with the fact that her father had lied to her for years.

Rayna was pulled from her memories by the sound of the door opening. When she looked up she saw the person that she had been looking for and the person she knew she shouldn't want that close. Deacon stepped into the room and walked over to where Rayna was standing in front of a display of old photos. He watched her turn her focus back to the photos as she traced one of her mother.

"I think we need to talk," Deacon finally said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah… I think we do."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_Rayna was pulled from her memories by the sound of the door opening. When she looked up she saw the person that she had been looking for and the person she knew she shouldn't want that close. Deacon stepped into the room and walked over to where Rayna was standing in front of a display of old photos. He watched her turn her focus back to the photos as she traced one of her mother._

"_I think we need to talk," Deacon finally said, breaking the silence._

"_Yeah… I think we do."_

As the words left her lips, Rayna's gaze stayed on the small table holding years worth of memories. Deacon knew that Rayna wouldn't start this conversation willingly so he took a moment to look at several photos that were lined up on the stand. There were photos of Rayna's mother and father together, one of only her mother and a few of Rayna and Tandy together and apart as small children.

One photo that his eyes seemed to settle on was one of a young girl, maybe eight or nine, with a guitar across her lap and the biggest grin on her face. The guitar was far too large for a child that size but she didn't care with one hand hovering over the strings and the other properly placed on the fret board. Deacon smiled when he picked up the frame to look closer.

"Is this you?" he asked when he turned to Rayna and showed her the photo.

Rayna looked at the photo and Deacon could tell by the look on her face that it brought back some old memories. Her eyes filled with tears that somehow didn't fall and she reached for the frame. Her hand went to cover her mouth as she studied the old photo and shook her head.

"No. It's Tandy. I can't believe that Daddy would have kept this photo, let alone in here," Rayna said.

"Tandy? Your sister, Tandy?" Deacon asked in disbelief. When Rayna nodded her head, he continued. "I didn't think your sister had a musical bone in her body."

"I told you Della was more like Tandy than you thought."

Rayna continued to stare at the old photo and Deacon leaned over her shoulder to look at it again. If she had any problems with him being so close to her, she didn't let on. After looking closer and knowing that the little girl in the photo was Tandy he noticed that her eyes were just a little bit lighter than Rayna's and her hair just a bit darker. He had known Tandy almost as long as he had known Rayna and couldn't believe that he didn't know this about her. Granted, they weren't close anymore but seen as how his life and Rayna's life revolved around music, this seemed like something that he should have known.

"God, I remember Tandy telling me about this. I don't remember the day because I was too young but this was her eighth birthday and Mama finally bought her a guitar. She had been begging her for one and Mama finally gave in. I do remember her playing that thing all the time when we were kids."

"Really? Does she still play?" Deacon asked and knew it was a sore subject as soon as he saw the look on Rayna's face.

"No. She stopped playing and singing when Mama died. She stopped doing a lot of things after she died…" Rayna trailed off. When she saw the questioning look on Deacon's face, she took a deep breath and continued even though she didn't really want to. "Tandy and my mother were really close when we were younger. Everyone just assumes that she's always been Daddy's girl but when Mama was alive I was closer to him. Thinking back, she must have seen the good qualities about my father in Tandy and I was so much like my mother, if Daddy couldn't have her around all the time he had me. Everything is so confusing right now."

"Hey," he said as he wrapped his hands lightly around her upper arms to turn her to face him. "I know it's confusing. I know the relationship that you had with your father was never easy but you don't have to figure anything out right now. And you don't have to do it alone."

Deacon could see that Rayna clearly wasn't ready to talk about that yet by the way she pulled away from him. Not roughly but just enough to put a small distance between them. He noticed that she was still holding the frame in her hand and reached for it to place it back on the stand. He also noticed that she now had a few tears streaming down her face, the first he had seen all day and made him wonder who they were really for.

"She was so good at the guitar. So much better than I ever was. Della was just like Tandy when she was little. Always singing and playing her guitar or any other instrument she could get her hands on. We used to sing when we were younger, kinda like Maddie and Daphne now. Tandy always took the lead because her voice was so much stronger than mine. But then she stopped. She wouldn't sing with me anymore," Rayna said the last line in a soft voice.

Deacon had watched the sisters throughout the day and could tell that there was some tension between them. He hadn't seen them speak at all and Bucky and Della seemed to be acting very protective of Tandy all day. Since the accident, he hadn't spent much time around Tandy because he hadn't really spent that much time around Rayna so he wasn't sure if it was new or had been festering for a while. Either way Deacon could tell that it was affecting her today just by the way Rayna was talking about her sister.

"Ray…" he started but Rayna cut him off.

"She broke it," she said suddenly. "A few weeks after Mama died I asked her to sing with me and she got upset. She started yelling at me like she never had before and smashed the guitar. I had never seen her cry like that. When she realized what she had done, she fell apart. The only other time I've seen her like that was after she lost Della."

By this time Deacon could see the tears were freely streaming down her face and he didn't think twice before wrapping his arms around her. Rayna knew this was what she had been waiting for all day and clung to him like her lifeline. In many ways he was. Deacon had been there, in one way or another, for everything in her life. When her father kicked her out of the house, when they played their first gig, even when she was having problems with Teddy, he was there to help her. He had also put her through some pretty rough times but right now she didn't want to think about that. She just wanted to get lost in him.

Deacon felt her body start to shake as silent sobs wracked through it. He had no idea what had happened between Rayna and Tandy for her to react like this but it felt like everything that had been building for so long was just tumbling out of her. He ran his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her cries as she buried her face in his neck. His lips pressed against her hair and he closed his eyes just taking relief that she would allow him to hold her this way again.

When Rayna finally seemed to settle down, Deacon pulled back just enough to look at her face and brought his hands up to cup her cheeks and wipe them of the tears. The look in her eyes was one he had only seen a handful of times and knew he had to look away before something happened that neither one of them were prepared for. She looked so lost and vulnerable and Deacon felt that if he let things go any further than just this hug then he would be taking advantage of her. So he simply placed his lips on her forehead and pulled her back to him, which she went willingly.

They stood there for a while just holding each other and to both it felt so right but neither would admit that to the other. Rayna let the thought cross her mind. Would this always be the way they were around each other now? They were always so careful about what they talked about or how close they stood. This was the first time that they had actually touched, really touched, since before the accident and she never wanted to let go.

"Do you want to tell me what happened between you and Tandy?" Deacon asked after a few moments. He heard her mumble something but couldn't understand her so he reluctantly pulled away from her. "What was that?"

"God, Deacon. I didn't mean for it to get this way," Rayna replied as she pulled herself a little further away from him and brought her hand up to wipe her tears.

"What way, Ray? What happened?" he prodded.

"We, um. We got into a fight the day after Daddy got home. Tandy was acting all weird around him and I didn't think anything of it. I had no idea what happened between them that made her quit the company so I thought that's what the problem was. Turns out Tandy was the star witness for my father's trial."

"What?" Deacon asked, completely shocked. He had never known Tandy to do anything even against her father's wishes let alone go completely against him and try to send him to prison. "Why would she do that?"

"She said she had proof that he was involved in my mother's death that she just didn't happen to share with me," Rayna continued. "I can't believe that she would lie to me about something like that. My mother meant the world to me and she kept that from me!"

"Ray…"

"No! I'm so pissed off right now I don't know what to do!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Rayna. I don't think she did it to hurt you," Deacon said, trying to make her calm down a bit.

"It doesn't matter! She's a liar just like my father. She said that she just found out but she could be lying about that, too! I feel like I've lost everyone that I've ever trusted," she cried.

"Ray, she loves you. She wouldn't do it to hurt you. Maybe there's more to the story. Have you asked her about that?" he asked. At that question, Deacon watched Rayna's expression crumble again as she began to cry harder.

"No," Rayna answered as she shook her head. "I was just so mad at her. I didn't mean to hit her but I was just so mad!"

Deacon looked at Rayna when she whipped her head up with a shocked look on her face as if she was surprised at what had just come out of her mouth. Deacon was also a little shocked. He had known Rayna to lose her temper more times than he could count but for her to be physical, that was a first.

"What happened?"

"She came over to tell me that she was the witness and why. When she told me about mom I couldn't think of anything other than the fact that she had lied to me," Rayna explained but then stopped herself short. She realized what she had been saying this whole time and looked up to see the painful expression in Deacon's eyes. "Oh, God. Deacon, I'm so sorry."

"That's not what this is about right now," Deacon said trying to not get into it with her about Maddie right now. He wanted her to focus on what was going on right then, they could deal with everything else later.

"But it is," she replied softly. "It's about the fact that she lied to me when I've done the same to you all these years. She pointed that out to me and that's when I just saw red. It happened before I could stop myself and now she won't talk to me and Della won't let her out of her sight."

"What do you mean she won't let her out of her sight? Because you two got in a fight?" he asked, clearly confused.

Rayna ran her hand through her hair again. It was going to be a frizzy mess by the time she got home but she didn't really care. She knew that Deacon didn't know much about Tandy's marriage to Charlie and honestly it wasn't her truth to tell. He did, however, know that even as a small child Della was protective of her mother. She may have been going off of what was happening at home before Rayna knew anything about it but Deacon definitely noticed it.

"Well you know how Della always was," Rayna said as the only answer she could think to give. She didn't want to tell him that she may have caused her sister to suddenly flash back to one of the worst times of her life and that's why her niece was so worried. She watched Deacon as he seemed to think about it for a second before taking her answer for what it was.

"Well, I think the first thing you need to do is talk to Tandy." When Rayna looked like she was going to protest, Deacon continued. "You also need to stop pretending like you're fine. I know you. I know you're not fine."

"I don't know how I feel anymore," Rayna admitted with defeat.

"And that's okay. I'll be here when you figure it out."

Rayna simply nodded her head and let her tears continue to fall. Deacon couldn't take it anymore and pulled her body back to his. It was the one place that she had always felt safest and this time was no different.

* * *

Della backed away from the doorway of the study. She had gone looking for Rayna, just to check on her and found her in the study with Deacon. Not that she was surprised. Deacon was always the first one that Rayna would turn to and it looked like even after all these years and everything they had been through, some things never change. She hadn't really heard what was said between the two but watched as Deacon took her aunt in his arms and decided that was her cue to leave.

She turned quickly and collided into a body that was right behind her and she felt hands on her arms to steady her. Once the shock wore off, Della stepped back and out of the grasp of the man in front of her.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there," Della said as she went to make her way past him.

"It's alright. I don't believe we've met. I'm Teddy Conrad, the mayor," Teddy said as he stretched his hand out to shake Della's.

"I know," she replied as she took his hand in a firm shake. "I'm Della."

"Nice to meet you, Della," he said and watched as she gave him a reserved smile. This young woman intrigued him because Teddy had no idea what she was doing at this funeral. He didn't like not knowing everything that was going on around him. He had seen her around Tandy and Bucky all day so he assumed maybe she was a relative of Bucky's. Before he had a chance to ask, Bucky walked over to them.

"Hey," he said before he gave Della a kiss on the cheek. "Your mom is looking for you."

"Okay," Della replied and craned her head to look through the doorway to where her mother was still sitting. Teddy turned to see where she was looking but she turned her gaze back to Bucky before he could follow her line of vision. "I think we should probably head out soon. It's been a long day."

"Yeah, I'll be right there. I just wanted to say goodbye to Rayna," Bucky said.

"She's in the study with Deacon. I don't think it's a good time. Just call her when we get home, trust me," she explained. She then turned back to Teddy and gave him a nod before walking away.

Teddy was going to ask Bucky who Della was when the other man stated that he was on his way out. Bucky shook Teddy's hand and told him that he was going to say goodbye to the girls and to have Rayna call him if she needed anything. Teddy watched him walk into the other room and kneel down in front of the girls where Della was now sitting and talking to them. He was so confused at how they all knew this person and he had no idea who she was.

He heard a door open down the hall and looked up to see Tandy walk out of the small bathroom. She still looked visibly shaken from the day's events but he needed to talk to her. He had been trying to get her alone all day but she always seemed to be flanked by Bucky and the young woman he now knew was named Della. Making his way quickly down to her, Teddy grabbed for Tandy's wrist before she could make it out of the hallway. He was surprised by the startled look on her face but didn't let up his grip.

"Hey," she said as she pulled her wrist free.

"I've wanted to talk to you."

"Sorry, I've been…"

"This is your fault," Teddy said as he took a step closer to her. He watched as her face paled and she tried to back away from him only to back into the wall so he took another step closer.

"I don't…" Tandy started to protest but Teddy cut her off again.

"You were the witness. You're the reason that Peggy is dead. That hit should have been on you!" he hissed at her. The look on his face went from anger to just pure hatred when he continued. "How does it feel to kill your own father?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked through her tears that were now rolling down her face.

"You killed him, Tandy. Knowing that he was betrayed by the one person he never doubted. That's what killed him. I guess you are just like your father," Teddy spit his last insult at her before turning around and leaving her leaning up against the wall for support.

* * *

The ride home had been almost silent. Bucky had tried to get Tandy to talk to him but she seemed to be off in her own world, having to ask him to repeat almost everything he said to her. He finally gave up and looked back to see Della watching them closely. When they finally reached the house, Tandy quickly got out and walked up to her room and closed the door.

Della and Bucky followed her into the house but stayed downstairs giving Tandy time alone. It had been a hard day for everyone but Tandy really seemed to be taking it the hardest. It was to be expected, she was closer to her father than Rayna, but it was still hard to watch. She had stepped forward first to place a rose on her father's casket and when she walked away Bucky was thankfully there to wrap his arms around her. He had been her rock throughout the past year from her father's first heart attack to Rayna's accident and now this.

"Did something happen?" Della asked when they finally made their way into the kitchen. She turned around to put the kettle on for some tea and waited for Bucky to answer her.

"What do you mean?"

"She seemed fine and then she went to the bathroom and came back really upset. I didn't know if she said anything to you," she explained.

"She didn't mention anything. What were you and Teddy talking about?" Bucky asked. It had seemed odd to find them together because he was sure that even though Della had never met Teddy, she wouldn't like him.

"Nothing. He introduced himself. I think he was trying to figure out who I was and why I was there. He seems like a real winner," Della said with a small laugh. "What did Aunt Ray ever see in that guy?"

Bucky just shrugged and decided not to answer. He had his own theories on the great mayor but he never voiced them to anyone other than Tandy. He had been around throughout everything and suspected all along that Maddie was Deacon's daughter but didn't feel it was his place to share that information. He also knew that no matter how hard Rayna tried to convince everyone she loved Teddy, she would never stop loving Deacon. So he kept his mouth shut.

The sound of the door opening upstairs made them both stop and look towards the stairway. When they didn't see Tandy come down, Della decided that she was going to go check on her mother. First checking the bedroom to find it empty, she walked further down the hall to the study where she found the door wide open with the dim light on. Her mother sat on the small couch that was against the far wall with three large photo albums laid out on the coffee table in front of her.

"Mama?" Della called and was happy to see that her mother at least responded by lifting her head and calling her over to sit by her. "What's all this?"

"I don't know anymore…"

"What do you mean?" Della asked as she snuggled in a little closer to her mother.

"Well, sweetheart. There's a lot of things that you don't know about your grandfather. Things I probably shouldn't tell you but I think for you to understand everything that's going on right now I have to tell you."

With that, Tandy proceeded to tell her daughter about her grandmother's death, her grandfather's involvement and her own plan to make sure that justice was served to the rightful party. Only, nothing turned out the way it should have and she now felt responsible for her father's death, thanks to Teddy, and she had to figure out how to live with that.

**A/N:** Sorry this update took so long. I wasn't planning on writing this chapter but those last two lines just showed up at the end of my last chapter and I knew I had to go from there. The part about Tandy being musically talented comes from an interview that I saw with Judith Hoag where she was saying that she sings and she hoped that maybe someday her character would possibly show that she also got her mother's musical genes. That being said I don't see that happening on the show because I don't think we're going to be seeing Tandy for much longer which makes me super sad! Anyway… I don't think I'm looking forward to the next few episodes. I'll be watching through my hands over my face...

As always I would love to know what you all think :)


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